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February 2020 – Iran’s War with the God of Israel
PTNews
February, 2020
Published monthly
All Bible references are from the KJV
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Iran’s War with the God of Israel
“Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel, I will help thee,
saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 41:14
By Mike Wingfield
The nations in the Persian Gulf area, especially Iran, have been a demonic stronghold since the beginning of time. Satan’s seat of authority has resided in the area of Iraq and Iran for millennia. This geographic area has played a major role in the kingdom of darkness in its plot to overthrow the God of Heaven and foil His eternal plan.
According to Isaiah 14:12-14, Satan has always wanted to dethrone God. God’s chief opponent wants to take His position as the ruler of heaven and earth. Satan’s plot has always focused upon God’s chosen place to display His sovereignty – the City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.
Satan’s efforts, along with His kingdom of darkness, have had the destruction of the Jewish people at the heart of their agenda of rebellion since God revealed His plans in His written revelation, the Word of God. This is displayed in symbolic form in Revelation 12. In this text, Satan is depicted as a great red dragon that seeks to devour, persecute, and make war with the Jewish people.
Iran is just one of many nations being used as pawns by Satan. These nations are praying and longing for the destruction of Israel. The records of the United Nations indicate that no other nation has received as much global condemnation as the modern state of Israel. Israel has been unfairly singled out for condemnation by the United Nations. According to a UN Watch organization, the UN Human Rights Council condemns Israel more than all of the other nations in the world. In the UN General Assembly, more than 86 per cent of all condemnations are aimed at Israel (https://unwatch.org/un-israel-key-statistics/). It is also a proven fact that anti-Semitism is on the increase around the world. All of this proves that the world really hates the nation of Israel in particular and the Jewish people in general. Israel is the nation they all love to hate!
The prophetic Scriptures indicate that when the end of this age comes, the nations will oppose the Messiah of Israel (Psalm 2:2) and God’s declaration that He will rule the nations from God’s “holy hill of Zion” (Psalm 2:6). Ultimately, they will join forces with the Antichrist and declare war against Israel, leading to the battle of Armageddon at the end of this age (Revelation 16:12-16; 19:19-21).
According to the prophetic Word of God, the central attack against Israel in the last days will come from the nations that surround the Jewish nation. Ezekiel 36:1-7 is a profound and detailed prophecy that is unfolding right before our eyes. In this text, God’s speaks to His land and “the mountains of Israel” (a geographical reference to the “West Bank,” which is Biblical Judea and Samaria). This geographical area is the heartland of what God promised to Abraham and his descendents in an eternal, unconditional covenant. While Abraham was standing on a mountain near Bethel, God said to him, “For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever” (Genesis 13:15).
According to Ezekiel 36, when the Jewish people return to their land in the last days, the nations surrounding Israel (see verses 4, 7) will oppose their occupation of the land. Today, all of the nations that surround Israel have one thing in common. They are all Islamic nations that give passionate allegiance to their god, Allah. A study of the Bible and secular history indicates that this region has always been at war with the Jewish people. These nations have always coveted the land that God promised to Israel as an everlasting possession. History demonstrates that this war against the Jewish people over their land has intensified since the birth of the religion of Islam in the seventh century, fourteen centuries ago.
Ezekiel 36 states that these nations will claim that the land belongs to them. God says they have “appointed my land into their own possession with the joy of all their heart”(verse 5). This text states that this passion for the land will come from an area called “Edom” (Hebrew word) or “Idumea” (Greek form of the same word). The mountains of Edom presently extend from southern Jordan into Saudi Arabia. In Biblical times, this became the home of Esau (Genesis 36:8-9, 19) and Ishmael (Genesis 25:18). Muslims claim that Ishmael is the father of their religion. Saudi Arabia was the geographical center of the beginning of the religion of Islam. Therefore, 3,600 years ago, God revealed through Ezekiel that when the Jews returned to their land in the last days, they would be in constant conflict with the Muslim nations surrounding them.
Furthermore, Ezekiel was told that the center of this conflict over the land would be the high places of worship. Ezekiel 36:2 states, “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession.” At the center of Israel’s war with Islam is the city of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount (the central place of worship for Israel), and Hebron (where the patriarchs of Israel are buried in the cave of Machpelah- Genesis 25:9-10).
According to Ezekiel 36, these nations who oppose the return of the Jewish people to their land, and especially their occupation of Jerusalem and Hebron, are at war with the God of Israel. The Bible says, “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea [central area of Islam today], which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all of their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey” (Ezekiel 36:5).
History demonstrates that during the period of the Ottoman Turkish rule of the Holy Land (1517-1917) that the Muslim occupants did not care for the land of Palestine and allowed it to become a desolate wasteland. Notice that Ezekiel 36:3 states that God’s enemies made the land “desolate”
during their occupation. It is a given fact that the intense interest of Islam over the land of Israel did not begin until the return of the Jewish people to the land in the first few decades of the 20^th century. The driving force behind the opposition of Israel’s occupation of the land is spite, or feelings of hostility. God says it was due to their “despiteful minds” (Ezekiel 36:5). This means that the enemies of God did not really care about the land, they just spitefully did not want the Jews to have it.
As we watch current events unfold in the Middle East, it is critically important for us to observe that one nation, Iran, is seemingly fueling the Middle East’s hatred toward Israel. While Iran is not an Arab nation [Iranians are Persians], it is the leader of the Shiite sect of Islam.
Since 1979, Iran has been passionately driving itself toward the creation of a global Islamic empire. Iran wants to be at the center of the Islamic world. This has created a bitter rivalry between the two major Islamic sects – Shitte and Sunni. While this is not the major focus of this article, this brewing Islamic division is setting the stage for the coming kingdom of the Antichrist.
From Iran’s perspective, there are two nations that stand in the way of its global aspirations – the United States and Israel. At the beginning of the Islamic revolution in Iran, the radical Islamic leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, referred to the U.S. as “the Great Satan.” He also coined the idea that Israel should be called “the little Satan.” Anyone who has followed the foreign policies of Iran since 1979 would know that Iran has a deep hatred for the U.S. and Israel.
In recent decades, Iran has continually fomented its hatred of Israel. According to Aljazeera news [an international Islamic news media outlet funded by the Persian Gulf states], Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called Israel a “cancerous tumor established by Western countries to advance their interests in the Middle East” (www.aljazeera.com). Since the founding of the Islamic revolution, many political and military leaders in Iran have openly called for the destruction of Israel. They have repeatedly stated that they are praying and preparing for the day when the Jewish nation will be removed from the face of the earth.
Cover of Khamenei’s book
Iran’s goal of global supremacy is driven by a radical Islamic belief concerning the end of this age. These goals are clearly spelled out in a 2011 book, called Palestine, written by the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In this 416-page book, Khamenei calls for the destruction of the U.S. (who he openly calls “the Great Satan”) and the removal of all of the Jews from Israel. He does not call for a military war with Israel because he knows they could not win such a confrontation. … He believes that Iran has been called to bring about global chaos and destruction that will invite their Islamic messiah, known as the mahdi, to come. They believe their messiah will return along with Issa (Jesus) and destroy all religions and make Islam the only religion of the world.
Most world leaders, including the liberal politicians in the U.S., do not comprehend the danger that Iran poses to world peace. Iran is the world leader in promoting and funding global terrorism, all in the name of their god Allah. For more than 41years, Iran has been plotting the destruction of the United Sates and the demise of the Jewish state of Israel. They fund terrorists groups in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza that are firing missiles into Israel. Their goal is to make Israelis so fearful that they will leave the land of Israel and abandon their Zionist dream of the establishment of the Jewish nation of Israel on the soil of what was once a part of the greater Islamic territory of the Middle East. This is clearly delineated in Khamenei’s book.
Instead of taking Iran’s evil plot seriously, six leading nations – the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China – signed a nuclear deal with Iran under the leadership of President Barak Obama. This deal proved how blind world leaders are to the real threat of radical Islam. Common sense tells us that you cannot trust an evil regime with nuclear capabilities.
From a Biblical viewpoint, we can be glad that President Donald Trump is not blinded by Iran’s evil schemes. From the beginning of his campaign to become the president of the U.S., President Trump called the Iran nuclear deal a “disaster.” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously called the Iran nuclear deal a “recipe for disaster.” In May, 2018, President Trump wisely removed the U.S. from the Iranian nuclear deal. From a Biblical vantage point, President Trump is standing with God on this issue as he opposes a country that continues to threaten God’s chosen people in God’s Promised Land.
On January 3, 2020, President Trump shocked the world when ordered the assassination of Iran’s Quds Force, Major General Qasem Soleimani. Soleimani was the chief architect of Iran’s plot to control the Middle East and the world. He was the director of terrorism, answering directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei. Most people do not know that in Arabic, the city of Jerusalem is known as al Quds, which means “holy sanctuary.” So, the Quds force in Iran was a special elite military force dedicated to the liberation of all Muslim lands from the infidels (all non-Muslims). Its real focus was the liberation of Jerusalem from the hands of the Israelis. Once again, President Trump’s decision and action stand with God and His eternal plans to establish Jerusalem as the place from which Jesus will rule over the nations of the world.
Most people in the world do not understand how passionate Iran is about conquering Jerusalem and liberating it from Israeli control. In August 2015 an Iranian Revolutionary Guard website released a video highlighting Islam’s war over Jerusalem. A computer generated animation depicted Islamic armies attacking Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. This is the dream of Iran and all the Islamic hordes that will follow the Antichrist in the future.
These dreams, however, will turn into nightmares for Iran and others who oppose the God of Israel. In Isaiah 29, God refers to Jerusalem as “Ariel.” This word in Hebrew means, “lion of God.” In this chapter, God’s prophet wrote about the nations that dream about fighting against Zion. God said, “And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition [stronghold- a reference to the Old City and Temple Mount] and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion” (Isaiah 29:7-8).
More than 4,000 years ago, God spoke to Abraham and told him to leave Ur, now located in Iraq. He spoke to him and said, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).
A careful study of the history of the nations will reveal that God has kept His word to the Jewish people. All nations have been blessed or cursed on the basis of how they treat the Jewish people in general and the nation of Israel in particular. God is sovereign. He rules over all of His creation. God has declared, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).
The word “curse” means: “to vilify, despise, dishonor, show great displeasure, hate, treat with contempt, desire evil to fall upon them …” Iran is leading the charge among nations today that are cursing Israel and the God of Israel. As I have noted, Iran has a deep-seeded hatred of Israel and they are openly planning and boasting of their dream of destroying Israel and liberating Palestine and Jerusalem from Jewish occupation.
In recent months, several earthquakes have rocked Iran. The latest was a 5.2 earthquake on January 22. God is reminding Iran and the nations that He is in control. However, is anyone listening?
In the near future, Iran will join Russia and Turkey and an Islamic collation of nations in an invasion of Israel. The details of this invasion of Israel are found in Ezekiel 38. In this text, God states that He is against these invading nations. Just at the precise moment they begin their invasion, God will send a massive earthquake that will trigger the volcanic eruptions of several ancient dormant volcanoes on the Golan Heights. This geological upheaval will destroy these invading forces. Ezekiel wrote that all of this is done so that “the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel” (Ezekiel 39:7).
Using the ancient name of Iran, Elam, the Bible declares that something will develop in Iran that will cause its inhabitants to be internationally dispersed to the nations of the world (Jeremiah 49:36-37). We cannot begin to know what will bring about this dispersion. Could it be nuclear radiation fallout that comes as a result of the destruction of Iran’s nuclear facilities due to God’s divine judgment? What will cause this destruction?
It is amazing to me that the Bible has almost nothing to say about most of the nations in the world, including the United States of America. When the end comes, the center of power of the world and of the Antichrist will be in the Middle East. A handful of nations are named in the prophetic Scriptures. One of them is Iran. However, Iran will fall during the Gog and Magog confrontation with God (Ezekiel 38-39). Then, the remaining nations will ultimately join forces with the Antichrist for man’s final attempt to defeat God during the last seven years of this age.
As we watch Iran and its allies shake their fists at God and call for the removal of the Jewish people from Israel and the liberation of Jerusalem, we know that we are near the end of this age. While the Bible does not give us all of the details, we know enough to understand that the increasing tensions of war between Iran, Israel, and the United States will ultimately help to shape the Middle East for the Gog and Magog invasion of Israel.
The latest Israeli intelligence indicates that Iran will have enriched enough uranium to make one nuclear bomb by sometime this spring. However, the same intelligence indicates that it will take Iran another two years to weap onize it “sufficiently to be placed in a warhead” (www.unitedwithisrael.org, January 15, 2020).
It is my opinion, on the basis of all of the clues given to us in the Bible, that the Rapture of the church will most likely occur before the Gog and Magog invasion of Israel. If I am right, then we need to be getting ready for the shout that will take us out!
Israel Develops Laser Defense Systems
The World Israel News Staff recently gave the following report: “Israel’s Ministry of Defense revealed on [January 8] that it has made a breakthrough in the development of high-energy lasers for the interception of long-range threats. … The ministry called it a strategic change in the defense capabilities of the State of Israel. .. We are entering a new age of energy warfare in the air, land and sea. The research and development investments made by the [Defense Ministry] in recent years have placed the State of Israel among the leading countries in the field of high-energy laser systems” (www.worldisraelnews.com, January 9, 2020).
This system will provide Israel with a complete defense system against all of the hundreds of thousands of missiles that their enemies have created to threaten the Jewish state.
Global Increase in Volcanic Eruptions
One of the chief characteristics of God’s last days judgments will be the increase in catastrophic activity of natural disasters. Earthquakes and volcanoes will increase with frequency and intensity (Luke 21:11).
In an article by Adam Berkowitz for Israel Breaking News, he states that volcanic activity is dramatically increasing as we begin the 21^st century. He said, “There is no doubt that volcanic activity is on the rise. There were about 25 significant volcano eruptions globally in the first 18 years of this century compared with approximately 65 in the entire 20th century” (www.breakingisraelnews.com, January 13, 2020).
In an amazing chapter on the approaching global earthquakes and volcanoes, the prophet Isaiah wrote, “Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. … the inhabitants of earth are burned, and few men left” (Isaiah 24:1, 6).
NASA to Deploy Telescopes to Detect Large Threatening Asteroids
An article in Raw American Truth states, “When a recent poll was taken about what NASA should do, detecting killer asteroids and defending the planet against their colliding with the Earth won the support of 68 percent of respondents, more than establishing a base on the moon, sending astronauts to Mars, or standing up the Space Force.
“While the United States is still embarked on those and other missions, NASA has announced that it will deploy a space telescope designed to detect Earth approaching asteroids that might prove to be a danger. …
“The chances of an asteroid hitting the Earth are small, but not nonexistent. In 1908, an asteroid hit an area in Siberia that caused an explosion that was the equivalent of a 20 to 30 megaton atomic bomb. More recently, a rock exploded over the Urals mountain town of Chelyabinsk Oblast at a height of almost 30 kilometers with the power of a 400 to 500 kiloton nuclear bomb. The explosion caused widespread damage to buildings and numerous injuries” (www.rawamericantruth.com, November 17, 2019).
According to Revelation 8:10-11, an asteroid will implode in Earth’s upper atmosphere during the Tribulation Period. The substance from this fragmented asteroid will rain down a poisonous substance upon one-third of the surface water of earth. The Greek word for star is “astar,” from which we get the word asteroid. This word can refer to any heavenly body.
Jewish Exodus to Israel
According to the Bible, one of the major signs of the last days will be a mass exodus of Jews from the nations back to Israel. Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress and Chair of the World Holocaust Forum’s Organizing Committee has said, “It is a possibility that in 30 years there will be no Jews in Europe” (worldisraelnews.com, January 22, 2020).
The March newsletter will examine the recently announced U.S. peace plan in the light of the prophetic Scriptures. I plan to publish it as soon as possible.
February 3, 2020
January 2020 – Global Technology and the End of Days
Published monthly
All Bible references are from the KJV
(Examining the News in Light of Biblical Truth)
P.O. Box 13006, Roanoke, VA 24030-3006
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Global Technology and the End of Days
“But thou. O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”
Daniel 12:4
By Mike Wingfield
The dawn of a new decade is upon us, and it is very apparent that we who live in 21^st century are in the midst of a highly advanced technological age. We live at a time that is known as “the information age,” or “the computer age.” This unique period of time began in the late 20^th century and it has continued to grow with blazing speed into our present day. The increasing ability of technology to calculate and store incredible amounts of information is mind boggling to the majority of people on our planet. The most advanced computers of our generation have a cognitive ability, known as Artificial Intelligence, that far exceeds the ability of man.
Computer technology is impacting every facet of our lives. It has radically changed the way we do work, regardless of the occupation we are in. In our highly advanced society, the workforce is not being driven by intensive labor, but by the knowledge and the technological skills of the laborers. People no longer are paid for what they do. They are paid for what they know.
While mankind revels and marvels in many of these technologies, we must consider the possible negative impact this is having upon our world and its future.
When a person reads and studies what the Bible has to say about the end of days, it is very apparent that the last days will feature a world that is very advanced in its knowledge and technological capabilities. Previous generations could not fathom how some of these prophecies are coming to pass. Clearly, we live in a world that uses advanced technologies that the ancient prophets wrote about thousands of year ago. But they could not comprehend the content of their writings. In the closing days of the prophet Daniel, he became very puzzled by the prophecies given to him. In this moment of wonder, God described to him that “the time of the end” (Daniel 12:4) would be a time of rapid travel and increased knowledge. When we compare our present generation to the previous cultures than our ancestors lived in, it is apparent that the uniqueness of our times perfectly fit the prophetic description given to Daniel. (more…)
January 7, 2020
October 2019 – The Ashes of Auschwitz
fence at Auschwitz
October 2019
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The Ashes of Auschwitz
“I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” Isaiah 48:10
By Mike Wingfield
A few months ago, I approached my board of directors and shared with them that I was being compelled by the Lord to visit the former Nazi concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland. Part of me did not want to make this trip. I have been to the museum of the Holocaust in Jerusalem, Yad Vashem, many times. However, this did not seem to satisfy the yearning God had put on my heart. I told myself that I was too busy and my schedule was full. After sharing my heart with my board, they approved my request and I made the trip during the first week of August.
I cannot begin to tell you how this experience has made a lasting impact in my personal life and ministry. Without question, this was one of the most sobering and heart-wrenching experiences in my life. God spoke to my heart in many ways, some of which I will share with you in this newsletter.
One of the most prevalent signs of the last days is the global hatred for Israel. According to the Bible, when the end comes, the world will hate Israel and be zealously plotting its destruction.
Satan’s attack upon Israel and the Jewish people is, in essence, an attack upon God and His eternal purposes. If Satan can destroy Israel or annihilate the Jewish people, He will have defeated God. Since the call of Abraham 4,000 years ago, Satan has made this his aim.
Both secular history and the Scriptures testify to the violent global rejection of the Jewish people in the history of the nations. The plague of anti-Semitism has been with the Jewish people since the birth of the nation in Egypt more than 3,500 years ago. The Psalmist declared, “Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say” (Psalm 129:1). While speaking to His Jewish disciples about the end times, Jesus said, “… and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake” (Matthew 24:9). Hundreds of years before the time of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah wrote to the Jewish nation and delivered God’s message, “I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction” (Isaiah 48:10).
As you examine the pages of Jewish history there have been many periods of horrific persecution and rejection. However, one of the most deadly attacks upon the Jewish people took place during the Holocaust more than seven decades ago. During this 10-year period about 6 million Jewish people were killed.
During the horrific days of World War II, the Nazi regime developed a plan to re-engineer the human race by removing the undesirable minorities that did not measure up to its standards. At the heart of these liquation efforts was the annihilation of the Jewish people. This plan was personally created and orchestrated by the Chancellor of Germany, Adolf Hitler, who was the leader of the Third Reich from 1933 to 1945.
Most people do not know that the plan to liquidate the Jewish race during the Holocaust was in part fueled by the teaching and writings of Martin Luther, who preceded Hitler by 400 years. Luther, a former Catholic monk in Germany, is best known for becoming the leader of the protestant reformation. While we can thank the Lord for many of the efforts of Luther, we need to take note that his teaching concerning the Jews and understanding of Biblical prophecy continued to follow the teachings of the Catholic Church. Like so many in his time, Luther did not know the prophetic Scriptures. He believed in what is today called “Replacement Theology.” This dangerous and erroneous teaching promotes the lie that God has permanently divorced the Jewish people from His covenant and replaced them with the Gentile church.
Luther hated the Jews. He wrote a book called The Jews and Their Lies. In this book, he wrote, “First, their synagogues should be set on fire. … Secondly, their homes should likewise be broken down and destroyed. … Thirdly, they should be deprived of their prayer-books and Talmuds. … Fourthly, their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death to teach any more. … Fifthly, passport and traveling privileges should be absolutely forbidden to the Jews. … Sixthly, they ought to be stopped from usury [charging interest on loans]. … Seventhly, let the young and strong Jews and Jewesses be given the flail, the ax, the hoe, the spade, the distaff, and spindle, and let them earn their bread by the sweat of their noses. … We ought to drive the rascally lazy bones out of our system. … Therefore away with them. …
“To sum up, dear princes and nobles who have Jews in your domains, if this advice of mine does not suit you, then find a better one so that you and we may all be free of this insufferable devilish burden — the Jews.” (https://www.wnd.com/2017/04/was-martin-luther-an-anti-semite/)
One can easily see how Hitler, 400 years after these words were written by Luther, could use this ideology that was already a part of the church in Germany. During the years leading up to the Holocaust, Germans were fed a constant diet of anti-Semitism. Jews were ridiculed, falsely accused, and portrayed as a burden upon society. They were quickly denied employment, education, and the basic freedoms of life. They were forced to wear a yellow star on their clothing to mark their Jewish identity, attracting rejection and inhuman treatment.
The plan of Hitler was successful. A great majority of Germans supported his goal of the extermination of the entire Jewish race. For example, Hans Frank, the governor general in Nazi occupied Poland in 1944, stated, “The Jewish are a race that must be totally exterminated.” In preparation for their final demise, the Jewish people were forced to leave their homes and were forced into designated ghettos. A million or more Jews died in the ghettos while waiting to be transported to the death camps. They died of starvation and diseases, succumbed to the harsh conditions, or were killed by the Germans.
When the time came for their transport to the death camps, they were driven like cattle into railroad cars. Hundreds were crammed into each railroad car. They were forced to stand up for most of the journey that in some cases took days. There was no water, very little food, and no bathroom facilities. Ventilation was poor. Many died on t hese trains before their arrival at the concentration camps, hundreds of miles away.
During the early years of the Holocaust there were more than 50 death camps scattered across the Nazi-controlled areas of Europe. During the last three years of the war, the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp in Poland became the major center for the Nazi efforts to exterminate the entire Jewish race. It is estimated that as many as 1.5 million Jews were killed at this camp.
When the trains arrived at Auschwitz, or its sister camp, Birkenau, only 3 miles away, the Jews were separated based upon who was fit for work. Those who were not able to work – the elderly, children and infants, mothers with small children, or the sick – were immediately sent to the gas chambers. Statistics suggest this usually represented about 70 percent of those on the train. They were led to an area where they were forced to undress and told they were going into a large shower room. Hundreds were forced to enter. When the door was finally locked, the German agents dropped Zyklon B pesticide into the chamber. As the poisonous vapor filled the room, these poor people screamed and cried out for help until they died about 20 minutes later.
After the deadly vapor had dissipated, some of the Jewish prisoners were forced to remove the dead bodies. Most of them were taken to the crematorium area. It was the goal of the Germans to cremate as many Jewish bodies as possible. At the height of the war, they were cremating an average of 4,756 bodies per day. Many other Jewish people were murdered and buried in massive graves just outside of the death camps. Tons of cremation ashes were dumped into the rivers and ponds around the areas of Auschwitz and Birkenau.
Those who were kept as prisoners were forced to live in crude barracks. They were forced to surrender all personal belongings, were issued prisoner clothing, and were photographed, and tattooed with a number. They were tattooed with a number because in just a few short weeks they would lose so much weight they could not be identified by the photo taken at the time of their entrance into the camp.
The goal of the camps was to make these prisoners slaves of the German war effort. It was their intention to kill these prisoners in about four months by starving them and submitting them to horrific and inhuman living conditions. They worked in the intense heat of the summer and during the harsh cold winters with no extra clothing or heat. They worked for 14-15 hours per day and their food rations consisted of weak coffee, water, a few pieces of moldy bread, and a small cup of very watery soup. They slept in bunks with about a dozen people and had only a few minutes each day to visit the bathroom.
Each morning, at daybreak, the prisoners were forced to gather outside for roll call. In some cases they had to stand in the intense heat or sub-zero temperatures while they waited for everyone to be accounted for. If someone was found to be too weak for work, they were sent to the gas chambers.
The entire camp was surrounded by an electrified bob wire fence. Sections of the camp were also isolated with the same kind of fence so that they could prevent a massive rebellion or attempt to escape. Guard towers were located along the perimeter of the fence. German guards were told to shoot any prisoner who tried to escape. Those who did kill prisoners trying to escape were rewarded with cigarettes, vodka, and attendance at parties.
Some prisoners faked an escape so that they would be killed. It was their way of ending their torture. Those who did escape were usually tracked down by dogs and returned to the camp where they were hung in the presence of their fellow prisoners at roll call the next morning.
Finally, the Germans realized that they were going to lose the war, and the prisoners would be set free after the death camps would be discovered. Therefore, they began to erase as much evidence as possible. They burned down the wooden barracks at Birkenau. They forced thousands of Jewish prisoners to march to other camps deeper into the German occupied areas. This march took place in the cold and harsh conditions of winter. Many of the prisoners were already frail, and had no shoes or clothing to endure the freezing conditions. Many prisoners that collapsed in the snow were shot. The path of this march was littered with frozen Jewish bodies.
Hitler lost the war and he did not complete his mission of eliminating the Jewish race. His war was doomed to fail because He was in direct conflict with the God of Israel. The Lord promised Abraham that He, the Almighty, would curse those who curse His chosen people (Genesis 12:3). The continued presence of the Jewish people is guaranteed by the God of Jacob. He has declared, “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6). Furthermore, the Lord used the Holocaust to briefly soften the heart of the international community and bring about the creation of the modern state of Israel. These two events are wielded together in God’s prophetic plan. Psalm 102, which seems to be an amazing prophecy about the Holocaust, connects the suffering of His people with the building up of Zion. Ezekiel’s amazing prophecy of the vision of the valley of dry bones teaches that God will resurrect the dead nation of Israel and call the people back to their ancient homeland. God said, “Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel” (Ezekiel 37:12). Many of the people who returned to Israel had the tattoos on their arms as survivors of the death camps.
As I reflect upon my visit to Auschwitz and Birkenau I believe I now know why the Lord directed me to make this visit to Poland to see the actual remains of the Holocaust death camps. First, I am reminded that the doctrine of replacement theology created the atmosphere for the Holocaust. This doctrine, which rejects God’s eternal promise given to Israel, attempts to denigrate the Jews with a false interpretation that the church has replaced Israel as God’s chosen people. As witnessed by Luther, this leads to a twisted view of the prophetic Scriptures and ultimately to a hatred for the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. Most of the pastors and churches in the United States hold to this deadly and deceiving doctrine. This is being duplicated around the globe and is setting the stage for the final rejection of Israel. Furthermore, most of the church today is Biblically illiterate concerning Biblical prophecy.
My visit to these death camps also impressed upon me the level of deception that accompanied the hate-filled mission of the Nazi regime. From the very beginning, the Nazis lied to the Jewish people about their plans to eliminate them. They told them they were being selected for work. The sign over the gates at Auschwitz, which is still there today, reads, “Work will set you free.” As the trains arrived and people walked through this gate, the Germans forced Jewish prisoners to form an orchestra and to play soothing music to calm the Jews on their march toward death. When the Jews entered the area to disrobe and enter the gas chambers, the orchestra was there and they were told they were going into the chambers to take a shower. Shower heads were installed to add to the deception.
At the heart of this evil regime was war and death. They had plans to create a utopia without God and to re-engineer society for their own benefit. The Muslims, socialists, and communists within the United Nations and in our own U.S. government are doing the same thing. They are deceptively orchestrating everything toward war and death so they can create a New World Order that fits their political or religious deceptive frame-work. During Hitler’s rise to power, the masses were so deceived that they placed their complete trust in a man who was filled with hate and evil. The world is being uniquely prepared to do this one more time. The international community is being prepared for the arrival of Antichrist. When he steps on the stage, much like Hitler did at a time of economic hardship in Germany, the world will eagerly embrace him and he will lead them to their death and eternal doom in their opposition against God. Concentration camps and the death of hundreds of millions are a part of the immediate future of our world. Read Revelation 13:11-18.
Iran’s relentless aim to annihilate the Jewish nation of Israel illustrates just how late it is in these last of the last days. In the last few decades, Iran has openly declared that it will ultimately rid the world of the presence of the Jewish nation. In spite of this threat, much of the world continues to do business with Iran as if nothing were wrong. China, Russia, Turkey, India, and many of the European nations continue to purchase oil from Iran and blatantly disregard the economic sanctions that the Trump administration has placed upon Iran. During the years of the Obama administration, these nations joined the U.S. supported of Iran’s march toward the development of a nuclear program. It was no secret that Iran’s aim was to develop nuclear warheads. While very few nations would openly admit it, it appears that the world is ready to sacrifice the future of the nation of Israel upon the altar of economic convenience. In reality, they do not really care about the Jewish nation of Israel.
This is one of the reasons why President Donald Trump and his administration are hated so much within the U.S. and the international community. President Trump wants to make America great and support the future of Israel. This does not fit within with the diabolical agenda of those who want a New World Order. The liberal left in America and Europe hate Israel and are blind to the dangerous threat of Islam. They are so filled with hate that they are blind to the truth.
Conditions are ripe for the appearance of the Antichrist and his deceptive and deadly government that will hate believers in Jesus Christ and the Jewish people. He will decapitate Christians (Revelation 13:15; 20:4). He will declare a war to annihilate the nation of Israel. This is called Armageddon (Revelation 16:12-16).
According to the prophetic Scriptures, the attack upon Israel and the Jewish people will reach unprecedented levels in the last few years of the end of this age. Today, Israel is surrounded by 22 Islamic nations that hate the only Jewish nation in the world. These nations have a population that is 60 times greater and a land mass that is 640 times larger. Yet, because God is on Israel side, the Goliath of hell is no match for little David who has declared “the battle is the Lord’s” (1 Samuel 17:47).
A greater holocaust for the Jewish people is in the immediate future. They can see it coming. A few years ago, Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, expressed the fear that “we currently face as great a threat to the safety and security of the Jewish people as the one we faced in the 1930s — if not a greater one.” (www.religionnews.com/2015/05/21/people-hate-jews-judaism-commentary)
Zechariah 13:8-9 indicates that God will preserve one-third of the world’s Jewish population during the final 7-years of the Tribulation Period. This entire Jewish remnant will be saved (Zechariah 13:8-9, Daniel 12:9, and Romans 11:26). Today’s Jewish global population numbers about 15 million. That would indicate that about 10 million will perish during the Tribulation. The red dragon of hell (Satan) has declared war on the Jewish people (Revelation 12:1-17).
This war is heating up and is about to travel across America. Get ready for the shout that will take us out!
Political Changes in the U.S. and Israel
The world has two political leaders, U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who are fighting against the creation of a New World Order. These two men are also willing to go to war with Iran to halt its wicked agenda. It is not an accident that these two leaders are hated by the world and are currently fighting for their political futures.
As a result of the recent elections in Israel, it is not clear whether Prime Minister Netanyahu will be able to put together a right-wing coalition to form a government that will enable him to continue with his conservative agenda. Should a more liberal government take control in Israel, it could pave the way for a more secular government that would accept the lies of the Antichrist and his false offer for peace. This false peace covenant that will start the Tribulation Period (Daniel 9:27), will be made with an Israeli leadership that the prophet Isaiah described as being those who scoff at the Biblical land covenant and the messianic hope of Israel (Isaiah 28:14-22). The time is getting late! Be ready!
October 17, 2019